Motive emerges in slaying

STOCKTON - By adding another charge, prosecutors have hinted at a motive in a brazen shooting that took the life of a 16-year-old Stockton boy on Aug. 30.

Jennie Rodriguez-Moore

STOCKTON - By adding another charge, prosecutors have hinted at a motive in a brazen shooting that took the life of a 16-year-old Stockton boy on Aug. 30.

Prosecutors tacked on charges of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor for Edgar Frayre, 19, who is also facing murder charges in the shooting death of 16-year-old Kevric Beverly Jr.

Witnesses said Frayre shot Beverly in the heat of an argument between Frayre and a group that included Beverly.

The argument, witnesses said, occurred when Frayre was being confronted about having sex with a minor.

Frayre was arraigned Thursday on premeditated murder, firearm and street terrorism charges with various enhancements after authorities went on a four-day manhunt that ended with Frayre's arrest Tuesday in San Jose.

Additionally, "based on the investigation, it was determined the defendant was involved with a minor under the age of 14," Deputy District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar said outside the courtroom.

Every homicide in San Joaquin County is tragic, Verber Salazar said.

"It's particularly heartbreaking when it's a 16-year-old who was just about to start his life," she said. "It's just senseless violence."

On Thursday, more than a dozen relatives of Beverly walked into a Stockton courtroom ready to lay eyes on the accused.

Judge Franklin Stephenson read the charges to Frayre, who sat quietly among other defendants. Stephenson set his bail at $2.1 million, an order that drew applause from a crowd of the victim's relatives.

Stephenson reminded the audience that comments were not allowed in the courtroom and in fact are against the law.

The emotional response was because of "knowing that he's not going anywhere," the victim's father, Kevric Beverly Sr., said in the court hallways. "$2.1 million; that's a huge bail, so it's good to know he's not going anywhere."

Beverly's mother, Chenequa Charlo, said she was glad Frayre is being brought to justice, although she felt uneasy about seeing him in person.

"It's a very nervous and scary feeling to be face to face with your son's killer," Charlo said.

Beverly's family described the slain teen as a good kid, a joker and very sociable.

"He just loved to hang out with his friends," said his cousin, Valerie Robinson, 42.

The senior at one.Ethics school in Stockton hoped to one day earn a scholarship to play college basketball, relatives say.

"He was going to graduate this year," Robinson said. "As of Friday, everything was looking good for him."

But his dreams ceased when he was gunned down in front of a crowd, including the suspect's own 5-year-old brother, at a gated apartment complex on the 600 block of Salem Way.

Beverly was struck during an altercation between two groups of people over Frayre's suspected sexual encounter with an underage girl, witnesses have said.

Frayre, who had fled Stockton after the incident, was tracked down and arrested in San Jose earlier this week by police and U.S. marshals acting on a tip.

"We really appreciate all the hard work from the detectives and the marshals," Robinson said.

Frayre is facing a potential 65-years-to-life maximum sentence if convicted of all the charges, Verber Salazar said.